The Albany Gazette - SMX and Singapore's A*STAR Are Setting the Global Blueprint for Plastics Recycling (NASDAQ: SMX)

The ability to control, verify, and monetize recycled materials is becoming a question of national security and global influence. ASEAN, the European Union, and the United States all want to lead this new frontier. Singapore, with SMX's (NASDAQ: SMX) technology as its backbone, is planting its flag first. Its intent is clear: to replace a flawed system that has failed for decades.

For years, recycling frameworks were built with good intentions but a narrow vision. They zeroed in on PET bottles and rPET packaging while overlooking industrial polymers, textiles, automotive resins, and electronics. That blind spot left most material flows outside the loop, fueling systemic failure. Recycling rates flatlined while incineration and landfills became the default.

That result was not for lack of trying. Governments set targets, brands pledged billions, NGOs lobbied for action. But the frameworks lacked one critical piece: enforceable proof, the verifiable evidence that materials are what companies and countries claim them to be. Without it, progress stalled- and that stall exposed a harder truth. Plastics are not just an ecological challenge; they are a geopolitical one. Put simply, nations that can turn waste into value will not only meet climate goals, they will also gain leverage in trade, industrial competitiveness, and supply chain resilience.

Turning Material Into Data

SMX delivers that missing piece by turning materials into data to create true material efficiency. Unlike stickers or labels that can be removed or forged, SMX embeds its proof directly into the material itself. Its patented molecular markers are embedded into plastics, metals, textiles, and natural rubber, giving every item a scannable, tamper-resistant identity tied to a verified digital passport. That immutable identity then follows goods from origin through use, recycling, and chemical transformation, proving recycled content, authenticity, and chain of custody in real time.

The result is enforceable compliance, anti-counterfeiting, and true material efficiency that converts sustainability from promise to measurable value. And SMX delivers something more: the Plastic Cycle Token, or PCT, built to take this system into global markets. The PCT is a digital asset framework that monetizes verified recycled content, creating a marketplace for recycled inputs similar to how carbon credits created a financial market for emissions. Together, the technology and the token form a closed loop of physical-to-digital verification and tradeable value.

This is the foundation on which Singapore is building the world's first national plastic passport program. Working through A*STAR, its premier research agency, the country is embedding SMX's technology into public infrastructure. The effort goes beyond a domestic initiative. It is a strategic move to position Singapore as a global leader in plastics circularity, creating a blueprint that other ASEAN nations can follow. With ASEAN's plastic economy projected at S$4.2 billion annually, Singapore's early adoption sends a clear signal to the region and the world: leadership in sustainability can be converted into geopolitical advantage.

Checking All The Right Boxes

Europe, with its Green Deal and plastics mandates, has tried to set the regulatory tone, but enforcement gaps and fragmented reporting systems have hindered progress. The United States, despite its industrial scale, has lagged in developing cohesive national frameworks for recycling and continues to rely on outdated tax and quota systems. By contrast, Singapore's model shows a new path; one where proof is digitized, compliance is auditable, and recycled materials can be traded as verifiable assets across borders.

This approach goes beyond meeting environmental obligations. It establishes a new layer of economic sovereignty. It also turns proof into a new form of currency. That currency matters because the geopolitics of plastic is not only about who can recycle more efficiently, but it is also about who controls the data, the tokens, and ultimately the markets that define value. Just as OPEC shaped decades of global power through oil, and just as China consolidated influence over rare earth elements, the countries that can prove and monetize recycled content will control the new resource that underpins 21st-century manufacturing. Singapore has chosen to move first, leveraging SMX's system as its competitive edge.

For stakeholders, policymakers, and multinationals, the implications are profound: plastics don't need to be seen as a liability but instead as an emerging asset class. SMX is enabling what regulators and markets have been demanding: transparency, accountability, and measurable impact. Singapore's adoption proves that this model is not theoretical; it is live infrastructure. The race now is who follows and who falls behind. In that race, SMX is more than a technology provider. It is both an enabler and an architect. In other words, the perfect partner.

References

• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/26/china-rare-earths-baotou-life-metallic-elements

• https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/060415/how-much-influence-does-opec-have-global-price-oil.asp

• https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en

• Los Angeles Tribune. "Carbon Credits Had Their Day… Now the SMX Plastic Cycle Token…" Feature article; 2025.

• National Environment Agency (NEA). Waste & Recycling Statistics 2014 - 2023. Singapore: NEA; 2024.

• Shunpoly.com. "How Much Plastic Is Wasted Each Year in Singapore?" Accessed 5 August 2025.

• Singapore Statutes Online. Environmental Public Health (Public Cleansing) Regulations - Incineration gate-fee schedule; revised 2024.

• National Environment Agency (NEA). "New Licensing Regime for General Waste Disposal Facilities." Technical brief & dialogue-session slides; 2024.

• Nasdaq.com. "SMX Announces Planned Launch of World's First Plastic Cycle Token." Press release; 2024.

• Yahoo! Finance. "SMX Plastic Cycle Token Is a Functional Market-Driven Solution…" News article; 2024.

• National Environment Agency (NEA). Waste-Statistics & Overall Recycling (interactive dashboard). Updated 2024; accessed 5 August 2025.

• National Environment Agency (NEA). Mandatory Packaging Reporting portal. Accessed 5 August 2025.

• National Environment Agency (NEA). Refuse Collection Fees for Households. Revised 2024; accessed 5 August 2025.

About SMX

As global businesses face new and complex challenges relating to carbon neutrality and meeting new governmental and regional regulations and standards, SMX is able to offer players along the value chain access to its marking, tracking, measuring and digital platform technology to transition more successfully to a low-carbon economy.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intends," "may," "will," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press release may include, for example: matters relating to the Company's fight against abusive and possibly illegal trading tactics against the Company's stock; successful launch and implementation of SMX's joint projects with manufacturers and other supply chain participants of gold, steel, rubber and other materials; changes in SMX's strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans; SMX's ability to develop and launch new products and services, including its planned Plastic Cycle Token; SMX's ability to successfully and efficiently integrate future expansion plans and opportunities; SMX's ability to grow its business in a cost-effective manner; SMX's product development timeline and estimated research and development costs; the implementation, market acceptance and success of SMX's business model; developments and projections relating to SMX's competitors and industry; and SMX's approach and goals with respect to technology. These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing views as of any subsequent date, and no obligation is undertaken to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, actual results or performance may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the ability to maintain the listing of the Company's shares on Nasdaq; changes in applicable laws or regulations; any lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on SMX's business; the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and identify and realize additional opportunities; the risk of downturns and the possibility of rapid change in the highly competitive industry in which SMX operates; the risk that SMX and its current and future collaborators are unable to successfully develop and commercialize SMX's products or services, or experience significant delays in doing so; the risk that the Company may never achieve or sustain profitability; the risk that the Company will need to raise additional capital to execute its business plan, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all; the risk that the Company experiences difficulties in managing its growth and expanding operations; the risk that third-party suppliers and manufacturers are not able to fully and timely meet their obligations; the risk that SMX is unable to secure or protect its intellectual property; the possibility that SMX may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and other risks and uncertainties described in SMX's filings from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

EMAIL: [email protected]

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

(D.Sanchez--TAG)